I found this article interesting but pretty shallow and not very revealing of the situation as I know it or have heard from others. An example would be Algeria. The article is correct in mentioning that there are thousands of new believers from a Muslim background, but it fails to mention that the recent growth has been almost completely apart from Western missionary influence – it’s fairly indigenous. Of course there were missionaries there for years (including the group I serve with , for 125 years to be exact) who laid the groundwork and sowed the many seeds that we are just now seeing the harvest from, but the church growth has been mainly Algerian led. There is a movement there, mainly amongst the Kabyle people – not technically Arab – and they are now seeking to reach their Arab cousins. Very few Western missionaries are able to get into Algeria now – which means the Algerians are doing it on their own. The government knows this and has been putting pressure on the believers there.
In Morocco, many of the problems have arisen because some of the Baptist groups and Pentecostals (which the article mentions) have created and caused divisions among the believers – telling them they must worship or do things in a certain way. But in some regions there are churches that are functioning now without ‘out-side’ influence and are now in their 2nd generation of believers (many of these churches my colleagues had the privilege of starting and supporting). One of the churches that was planted some 15 years ago just recently sent out one of their brothers to preach the gospel to a far away region in Morocco – so they’re already sending people out from amongst themselves. They have plans to send out more.
Also, the article mentions a professor saying “With the internet and the increase in travel, you have a democratization of missions where anyone who feels like it can go anywhere they want," said Robert. "The new breed of missionary doesn't have the same historical training as the older established denominations, nor necessarily the cultural training, so there's a bull-in-a-china-shop effect."
I found this a bit dense. I know for a fact that the cultural training that those of us out here is far more in depth and extensive than my predecessors. All of their training was on the job, as soon as they got off the boat (maybe a little bit of an advantage). I’ll admit that if you don’t go to the Arab world with an known, proven, established organization (like I did) you will probably get the results that the professor mentions – but I assume that is why your church is looking into organizations to partner with. This is why I’m not really that happy with Rev. Warren’s P.E.A.C.E Plan where you have a bunch of untrained people going out there for some short-term trip which in the long run will have the effect of a ‘bull-in-a-china-shop’ That’s my 2 cents.
There is a lot going on amongst the Arab people. God is doing amazing things. He’s shaking the nations and the Muslim peoples. Keep praying –pray that the situation in Gaza doesn’t harden the people even more.
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Posted by me from an anonymous email:
I found this article interesting but pretty shallow and not very revealing of the situation as I know it or have heard from others. An example would be Algeria. The article is correct in mentioning that there are thousands of new believers from a Muslim background, but it fails to mention that the recent growth has been almost completely apart from Western missionary influence – it’s fairly indigenous. Of course there were missionaries there for years (including the group I serve with , for 125 years to be exact) who laid the groundwork and sowed the many seeds that we are just now seeing the harvest from, but the church growth has been mainly Algerian led. There is a movement there, mainly amongst the Kabyle people – not technically Arab – and they are now seeking to reach their Arab cousins. Very few Western missionaries are able to get into Algeria now – which means the Algerians are doing it on their own. The government knows this and has been putting pressure on the believers
there.
In Morocco, many of the problems have arisen because some of the Baptist groups and Pentecostals (which the article mentions) have created and caused divisions among the believers – telling them they must worship or do things in a certain way. But in some regions there are churches that are functioning now without ‘out-side’ influence and are now in their 2nd generation of believers (many of these churches my colleagues had the privilege of starting and supporting). One of the churches that was planted some 15 years ago just recently sent out one of their brothers to preach the gospel to a far away region in Morocco – so they’re already sending people out from amongst themselves. They have plans to send out more.
Also, the article mentions a professor saying “With the internet and the increase in travel, you have a democratization of missions where anyone who feels like it can go anywhere they want," said Robert. "The new breed of missionary doesn't have the same historical training as the older established denominations, nor necessarily the cultural training, so there's a bull-in-a-china-shop effect."
I found this a bit dense. I know for a fact that the cultural training that those of us out here is far more in depth and extensive than my predecessors. All of their training was on the job, as soon as they got off the boat (maybe a little bit of an advantage). I’ll admit that if you don’t go to the Arab world with an known, proven, established organization (like I did) you will probably get the results that the professor mentions – but I assume that is why your church is looking into organizations to partner with. This is why I’m not really that happy with Rev. Warren’s P.E.A.C.E Plan where you have a bunch of untrained people going out there for some short-term trip which in the long run will have the effect of a ‘bull-in-a-china-shop’
That’s my 2 cents.
There is a lot going on amongst the Arab people. God is doing amazing things. He’s shaking the nations and the Muslim peoples. Keep praying –pray that the situation in Gaza doesn’t harden the people even more.
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